Curlin’s strong year continues

Two-time Horse of the Year and consistent classic sire Curlin is enjoying a monster year in the commercial arena, and that continued at the Keeneland September yearling sale. The stallion recorded five seven-figure lots in Book 1, including a $4.1 million yearling who was the top colt of the book, to lead all sires by gross for the three-day run.

Curlin, who stands at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm, was represented by the most expensive 2-yearold sold in North America this year, a $3.65 million colt who topped the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale. Proceeding into the yearling market, he sired three seven-figure colts in a single night at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, with a pair tying for the top price at $1.5 million. He recorded a staggering average price of $835,000 from 10 lots at that two-night sale before coming to Keeneland September. The Smart Strike stallion’s 27 yearlings sold grossed $18,825,000, outpacing Triple Crown winner American Pharoah – whose 26 sold included the sale-topping $8.2 million filly out of Leslie’s Lady – at $17,565,000. Curlin’s average price for Book 1 was $697,222, trailing only Medaglia d’Oro, whose 16 yearlings sold averaged $739,063.

Curlin’s $4.1 million colt, who is the first foal out of New Zealand champion sprinter Bounding, was purchased by the international Godolphin operation of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum. The colt was consigned by Eaton Sales, as agent for breeder Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Farm, which co-campaigned Curlin and maintains an interest in his stud career. Banke said that her major goal is for Curlin to achieve international success as a sire. To that end, Stonestreet, which has made forays into Australian and New Zealand racing under Banke’s leadership, purchased champion Bounding, by Lonhro and from the family of European classic winner Anthony Van Dyck, for about $1.3 million out of the 2016 Magic Millions national broodmare sale, and brought her to the United States to be paired with Curlin.

“I’ve always been trying to raise an internationallyacclaimed Curlin,” Banke said. “It’s one of my goals in life. This horse has every license to do that. I think that Curlin really deserves to be recognized in Europe as well as here.”

Bloodstock agent Anthony Stroud said Sheikh Mohammed will make decisions following this sale as to which of his purchases would be ticketed for which jurisdiction of his international operation.

Bloodstock agent Jacob West went to $1.2 million to land a Curlin half-brother to Grade 1 winner Mo Town for Robert and Lawana Low. The colt will be trained by Todd Pletcher, who conditioned Curlin’s first of two classic winners, 2013 Belmont Stakes victor Palace Malice.

“I had Palace Malice early on, so I’ve been a Curlin fan from the beginning,” Pletcher said. “And we’ve had a good year with [Curlin son] Vino Rosso winning the Gold Cup. So if you can get into a family like that by a top-class stallion with a colt who looks like that, that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Curlin’s other seven-figure lots were a $1.05 million colt and a $1.05 million filly, both purchased by Shadwell, and a $1 million colt out of Grade 1 winner Got Lucky, purchased by the partnership of Repole Stable, St. Elias, and M.V. Magnier.

Runhappy leads newcomers

Eclipse Award champion Runhappy, who recorded two of his biggest career wins at Keeneland, is off to a strong start at his first Keeneland September yearling sale, finishing the auction’s marquee Book 1 portion as its leading firstcrop sire by average sale price.

Runhappy, who raced for Jim McIngvale’s Gallery Racing and who now stands at Claiborne Farm, finished with eight yearlings sold in Book 1 for a total of $3.7 million. Among firstcrop yearling sires by gross, he trailed only Frosted, who had 12 yearlings that sold for a total of $4.12 million. Runhappy’s average checked in at $462,500, easily outpacing Nyquist at $345,714 and his Darley stablemate Frosted at $343,333.

Runhappy won 7 of 10 career starts, highlighted by six straight victories during his 3-year-old campaign in 2015 that made him that year’s Eclipse Award champion sprint male. The streak included the Grade 1 King’s Bishop; a score in the Grade 3 Phoenix at Keeneland over then-reigning divisional champion Work All Week; a three-quarter-length win over multiple Grade 1 winner Private Zone in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland; and the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes.

Runhappy, by Super Saver, is averaging $306,409 overall for his first yearlings. His top lot thus far at Keeneland September is a $700,000 colt purchased by West for the Lows. The colt is a half-brother to Canadian Horse of the Year Biofuel and Canadian champion Tu Endie Wei. That colt and others by Runhappy will be eligible for bonus funds when they begin their racing careers next season. A $100,000 bonus will be paid to any 2-year-old by Runhappy who wins an unrestricted maiden race during the 2020 meets at Saratoga and Del Mar.

“It’s an incentive for the buyers, and it’s also a reward for the breeders that have invested in Runhappy,” McIngvale said of the bonus. “Hopefully, it’ll make people more interested in the foals. It should be exciting for the breeders and the buyers and the trainers.”

Spendthrift new stallions

Spendthrift Farm will add five newcomers, including Grade 1 winners Mitole, Omaha Beach, and Vino Rosso, to its ever-bourgeoning stallion roster in 2020.

In addition to Mitole and Omaha Beach, whom Spendthrift earlier announced it had acquired the stud rights to, Spendthrift will add Grade 1 winner Vino Rosso to the stallion barn in 2020, along with Grade 2/Group 2 winners Coal Front and Maximus Mischief. The latter is by Spendthrift’s Into Mischief, currently the nation’s leading general sire. Spendthrift, which is owned by B. Wayne Hughes and is known for its robust slate of breeder incentive programs to popularize its young stallions, advertised 25 stallions at its Lexington, Ky., base for the 2019 season. Spendthrift also is active in regional North American markets and owns an Australian stallion operation.

“There is obviously a tremendous amount of history here at Spendthrift, and it’s long been a goal of Mr. Hughes to return this great farm to its better days as a premier stallion operation,” Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey said in a press release. “We believe we are doing that . . . . The addition of these five new horses will greatly complement our stallion roster and is representative of our commitment. It is the finest group we’ve had the privilege to bring in, and the best this storied farm has seen in decades.”

The stallion announcement confirmed the pending retirement, for 2020, of Omaha Beach after a fall campaign expected to begin in the Grade 3 Ack Ack Stakes on Sept. 28 at Churchill Downs. The son of prominent sire War Front has not raced since winning the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby in April to stamp himself as the morning-line favorite for the Kentucky Derby. However, he was scratched days before the race due to an entrapped epiglottis.